The Emergency Alert System (EAS) was established by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in November of 1994 with the approval of Part 11 EAS rules. The EAS replaced the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) as a tool the United States President and others may use to warn the public about emergency situations. Part 11 of the EAS rules states:
11.1 Purpose.                This part contains rules and regulations providing for an Emergency Alert System (EAS). The EAS provides the President with the capability to provide immediate communications and information to the general public at the National, State and Local Area levels during periods of national emergency. The rules in this part describe the required technical standards and operational procedures of the EAS for AM, FM and TV broadcast stations, cable systems and other participating entities. The EAS may be used to provide the heads of State and local government, or their designated representatives, with a means of emergency communication with the public in their State or Local Area.        
11.11 The Emergency Alert System (EAS).                (a) The EAS is composed of broadcast networks; cable networks and program suppliers; AM, FM, Low Power FM (LPFM) and TV broadcast stations; Class A television (CA) stations; Low Power TV (LPTV) stations; cable systems; wireless cable systems which may consist of Multipoint Distribution Service (MDS), Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS), or Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS) stations; and other entities and industries operating on an organized basis during emergencies at the National, State and local levels. It requires that at a minimum all participants use a common EAS protocol, as defined in §11.31, to send and receive emergency alerts in accordance with the effective dates in the following tables:        
The Emergency Alert System signal includes a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) number, which is a location code indicating geographic areas affected by an EAS alert. A FIPS code number is a six numeric digit code, formatted as prescribed by the FCC in Part 11 of the EAS rules. FIG. 7 is an example, including further description, of FIPS codes for the State of California. While the EAS is useful in many circumstances, typical methods for conveying EAS notifications can be inefficient.